Throw beads for a good cause

Tuesday

Feb 5, 2013 at 6:27 PM

Paradegoers will have their chance to throw beads at the end of parades this Carnival season. Grenier Industries, a division of Lafourche ARC, will feature a trailer following parades asking for bead donations.

Kris JohnsonStaff Writer

Paradegoers will have their chance to throw beads at the end of parades this Carnival season. Grenier Industries, a division of Lafourche ARC, will feature a trailer following parades asking for bead donations.The beads collected are used to provide job-skills training for people with developmental disabilities. Grenier Industries also hosts bead drives at local schools. “We've been doing this for so long, it precedes me,” said Kyle Soignet, Grenier Industries' director of vocational services. “I'd say close to about 20 years. That's something of a guess.” The Terrebonne ARC collects beads for sorting, packaging and resale as well. TARC spokeswoman Erica Null said the group's efforts started about four years ago. “We started really small, but then we got this incredible response from the community as word got out, so it kept growing,” said Null. The local support made way for the creation of the Buy-U Beads Division of TARC. In both parishes' ARC organizations, their clients sort through the beads and package them in bags to be resold. Soignet said the task helps build cognitive and physical skills for those who don't naturally have them. “TARC creates businesses to specifically fit the needs of our clients,” Null said. “For Buy-U Beads, the individuals who work there need to sit all day, need repetition, need a routine or need to learn colors or numbers. It offers a variety of skills.” All proceeds from the resale of beads go back to services for the clients at both organizations. Grenier Industries packages several sacks a day, Soignet said. A dozen beads fit in each pack, and 12 packs go inside a crawfish sack. At TARC, workers package about 400 packs of a dozen a day. That totals about 4,800 beads. To donate your beads to the Buy-U Beads Division of TARC, visit the site at 1 McCord Road in Houma. After Mardi Gras season ends, TARC will place garbage cans at every South Louisiana Bank in the parish. To donate to Grenier Industries of Lafourche ARC, go to the main office at 100 W. Main St., Thibodaux; Grenier Industries, 2233 St. Mary St., Thibodaux; or the Plaisance Center, 5811 La. 1, Lockport.Or, just be on the lookout for that trailer at the end of Lafourche parades, and throw back your beads.

Staff Writer Kris Johnson can be reached at 857-2207 or kris.johnson@houmatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter @krisLjo.